Automobile door handle



Oct. 30, 1 951 c, KRAMER 2,573,028

AUTOMOBILE DOOR HANDLE Filed July 22, 1946 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN V EN TOR.

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Oct. 30, 1951 c. F. KRAMER AUTOMOBILE DOOR HANDLE Filed July 22, 1946 3Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 30, 1951 c. F. KRAMER AUTOMOBILE DOOR HANDLE FiledJuly 22, 1946 5 Sheets-Sheet s P 1 E1 0 II U Flea 113 Patented Oct. 30,1951 OFFICE".

This invention: relatestmdoor' handles; and

more particularly to door handles for'automobilsr In the presen-ttypeautomobile-door handlin use;- the door handle endturns'in'a plane 90 "tathe handle shaft' axis and this 'maKes' -it neces-; sary to locate the-handle on-a suinciently high point 'of I the body panel 'co-ntourstoprovide "clear; ance fonthe handle end asfitrotatesi With theelimination of exposed running: boards on: the:

present" motor vehicles, the high point of? the body-- sidepanel contouris very nearrthe widest pointof the car" and when the door handler. ismounted on this 1 surface it producesAa verys'haze ardous'extensionWhiC1l"-l'f3$' onizoccasiomahook'ed into the clothing of pedestrians:with: serious-iree sults wh'en the 'car -is' being drivennnear FCHIbSiOIthrough crowded streets;

According' to the present inventi'om; this mm; culty is eliminated bylocating the. handle .-:on.':.a surface of the body :side panel inwardlyfromrth-e high'point of the body contouriwherethehandle end has better"protection'aand'f. then devising a handle that-will turn outwardly.awayiifromd'any high point '5 on the contour r oficthe panel when th'ehandle is pressedi downwardly to .open the' door;

Iti'is; therefore, an. obj ectiof' thiswzinvention itO provide'a doorhandle-which canxbe located 'on the surfaceof-an automobile side panel-inwardly from'thea'high point ofth'e side pane1-:and;which is capableof swinging outwardly to clearr the body 'panel-iwhen the tr-handle :isoperated: in-zsuch a mannerto 701981]. the door:

It "iSia further; object ofifthisrainventiomtotpro;- vi'de a'controlswivel-for a door h andlewvhich will swing the door handle;endfioutwardly. to 1' clear a high portion? of "the rbody:'panelwhenwopening the'automobile door:v

It is another? object of ithis; invention-rate pro= vide a controlswivel 1 for 'a' dOOITfhfiIldIB rwhich when the door handle: is'=released atterbeing:

actuated, will cause the door. handle end 1301 travel over 'the' highpart 70f the :body panel wand-return to itsinorinal position adjacentthelow 'orr'depressed. part "of the body panel.

It "is a? further: object of this invention-taprovide adoor handleoffthe'ftype' idesignatedi which can'lbe employediwithaaw conventionalElatch :bo'rt retracting mechanism as used .1 on conventional automobiledoors.

These and other objectsof myfinventi'onzwill becomeapparent from thefollowing detailed deiscription' taken inconjunction with -th'e accomepanying drawings in'which:

Figure -1 is'a-perspective-view"ofan autemo= bile" door having a" lockconstructed" according to one form of the invention and showing th'ehandle in the locked position in full lines and in the unlocked positioninbroken' lines Figure 2 is a' sectional view taken substantially alongline -2 2 ofFigure"1showing the handle" inthe lock'ed position;

Figure 3 is: a2sectionalview takentsubstantially along line 3-3of-I'Figure:1..with the .parts in :Lthe unlocked position; 1

Figures! Iisra cutaway view ofpthe dOOl". handle housing' andcontrolcamiusedtinitherembodiment shown'zin Figure 2;'

Figure '5 is aisectional view-:similarzto Figure 2showingazlockmhereiniarslotetypezcontrol swivel isusedi Figure -6 is'Iaside? view ZOf :the exterior of the handle assemblyshown'in Figure 5;

Figure 57 ;is a'-'.sectional.'view similar to: Figure .3 showingth'eelock of Figuret5 With'the parts in the unlocked positinn;

FigurefS fisriamend iview of 1 the handle housingshowing=-the-:canrislot usedin this'embodiment of th einvention;

Figure: 9"'is':a icrosswsectional view taken substantially along-lineB-Qof Figure-5;

Figurerzm is &a sectional View similar to Figure-2 showing another:embodimentof the invention; witlr'thehand-l '-in..the locked position;

Figurez'll is a side-view of the handle projected fi'tomxFigureelOFigure'rlze-is a side. :view' -of the handle .housing showing theicam'slot;

Figuresl3 isazsectional view similar. to Figure 3 and: showing the-lockof Figure 9 with the parts in: the unlocked-position,

Referring to Eigure;:2,xit willbe seen that'a door i'handl'e wils-recessed as'at l'l'and 'hasears l8 to receive the circular end IQ ofa-rectangularlysshaped aloeka control shaft 2 i These earsarerpivotall-y connectedto shaft 2! by means of aepini25r. Achousing;23"in which the shaft turns isiprovided witha shoulder 21 which fitsagainst the: outsider surface of the body 'panel 29 and thisshousinggisi' th-readed. inwardly of the 'body panelsas atIB-i toreceivea-nut 33 which, when screwediagainstthe 'body panel, holds thehousingirigidly; in place. As'best shown by Figure 4;,thehousing'23whasan integral, sleeve-like camilflaprovidedwvithtwo inclined camsurfaces 35:?andf 3 on. therend-thereofadjacent handle l5. Two stops 39and are provided to separatei" the.two;cain'ssurfacesv from each other.Cam surface 35 is: inclined withrits low point 38 ad-jacent' stop 39 andinclined outwardly to a high-point? adj'acent StOp ADL Cam surfacehandle end outwardly.

3! is inclined with its low point 38 adjacent stop 39 and inclinedoutwardly to a high point 42 adjacent stop 40. Rollers 43 and 44 arepivotally mounted on handle I5 on opposite Sides of the circular end I9of control shaft 2| and roller 43 moves along cam surface 35 whileroller 44 moves along cam surface 31.

The rear portion of housing 23, indicated at 49, is recessed to providea housing 5I for a spring 53. A hole '54 is drilled through one side ofthis rear portion 49 and one end 55 of spring 53 is inserted in thishole 54. The other end of the spring indicated at 51 fits in a hole 6|drilled through a washer 53 inwardly of housing 23 and which is keyed orotherwise fixed to the shaft so as to turn therewith. A pin 65 extendingthrough the shaft holds washer 83 in place against the rear portion 49of the housing 23.

The inner end of control shaft 2! extends into a conventional lock boltmechanism I5 where it engages and operates a standard door lockingmember H.

In operation, when door handle I5, which is located in a low portion 73of door panel 29, is in the normal closed position adjacent thebodypanel, roller 4'8 is in contact with high point 42 on cam surface3"! of cam 34 while roller 63 is in contact with the low portion 36 ofcam surface 35. This causes the door handle end to be in an inwardposition adjacent the outer panel 29. When the door handle I5 is presseddownwardly, roller 43 moves from low point 38 on cam surface 35 to thehigh point 4! at the same time roller 44 moves from high point 42 on camsurface 31 to low point 38 thereon, thus causing the handle end to swingoutwardly. This can readily be seen by referring to Figure 3 which showsthe door handle swung outwardly due to the camming action of the cam 34.When the door handle is pushed downwardly in this manner, the controlshaft 2I turns washer 83 which, having one end of spring 53 securedthereto, causes spring 53 to be turned so as to be in a wound condition.At the same time, control shaft 2I causes the latch TI to be movedinwardly in the conventional manner, thus unlocking the door. When thehandle is released, the spring 53, being in a wound condition, unwindsitself and causes the control shaft to be turned back to its normalposition, thus allowing the latch TI to move outwardly to its normalposition and at the same time causing the rollers to move back along thecam surfaces to their original positions. When the rollers move back totheir original positions, they cause the handle end to move inwardlyover the high portion of the body panel 29 and thence back to its normalposition adjacent the low part of the door panel 29.

Thus, it can be seen that by merely pressing down on the door handle thecam action automatically pivots and swings the door handle end outwardlyover any point of high contour over which it must pass. The cam surfacescan, of course, be inclined at varying pitches depending upon how far itis necessary to swing the door The further the door handle end must beswung, the greater must be the angle of inclination of cam surface.This, however, is something which must be determined for each individualautomobile upon which it is used.

A modified type swivel control for a door handle 'is shown in Figures 5,6, '7 and 8. The door handle is indicated at 83 and is pivotally mountedin a movable socket member 85 by means of a cross pin 81 so that, whenhandle 83 is turned,

socket member 85 is likewise turned. At its inner riphery of housing I03so that if the handle 83 is turned or pressed downwardly, for instance,the pin 91, in following groove IOI in housing I03, will have to moveinwardly in order to follow the contourof the groove. The slot 99 insocket member merely allows inward and outward movement of pin 9'! whenmoving through groove IOI.

The housing I03 has an annular flange I04 abutting the-outer side of thepanel 29, and inwardly of the panel the housing has a flat faced bossI05 disposed next to the edge face of the door. This boss is secured bymeans of a screw I06 to one wall I01 of a V-shaped portion I08 in suchedge face. This means of fastening the housing in place permits readyassembly and disassembly while at the same time it prevents removal ofthe housing when the door is in a closed, locked position. The socketmember 85 which turns in the housing I03 also has a marginal flange I09which normally engages the flange I04 on the housing so as to limitinward movement of the socket member. At its inner end the housing I03similarly to the construction previously described, has a tubularextension I I2 which houses a coil spring II3 encircling the extension88 on the socket member 85. This spring has one end anchored to thehousing in the manner described previously in connection with Figure 3while the other end of the spring is connected to a washer II4 disposedon the socket extension. Such washer and socket extensions areinterlocked so as to turn together and this interlocking may be effectedby providing fiat sides II5 on the socket extension and by having theopening in the washer shaped accordingly to fit the extension. A pin IIBextending through the socket extension and shaft holds the washer inposition.

Figures 10, 11, 12 and 13 show a further embodiment of the invention.This modification is the same as the embodiment shown in Figures 5-8except that the slot 99 in socket member 85 and groove IOI in fixedhousing I03 are provided on the opposite sides of their respectivemembers from the manner shown in Figures 5-8. This necessitates changingthe position of door handle pivot pin 81 to alter the pivot motion ofhandle 83; but otherwise this embodiment is identical with that shown inFigures 5-8.

In operation of both of these embodiments, when door handle 83 ispressed downwardly it pivots about pin 81, causing the control shaft 9|to rotate and actuate the door latch mechanism 93 and thus move the doorlatch member TI inwardly so as to release it. When control shaft 9Imoves it causes movement of washer I25 which, because the spring I I3has one end inserted in a hole in the washer, causes the spring to berotated so that it is in a wound condition. As the handle movesdownwardly, pin 91, following the spiral groove MI in the stationaryhousing I03, rotates the handle end outwardly away from the high pointof the body panel.

The angle at which the spiral groove runs within the stationary housing183 depends again upon the amount of outward movement necessary to clearthe high body portion of the panel. This again depends upon theparticular type of body contour for which the handle is adapted to beused.

While I have described several embodiments of my invention, it is to beunderstood that I do not wish to be restricted thereto, and that Iintend to cover all modifications thereof which would be apparent to oneskilled in the art and which come within the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

I claim:

1. In a door handle operating mechanism, stationary housing mounted in adoor, a rotatable socket member within said housing, a door handlepivotally connected to said socket member, a lock retracting mechanismmounted inwardly of said handle, a control shaft having one end thereofconnected to said socket member and the other end thereof engaging andadapted to operate said lock retracting mechanism, said housing having agroove directed spirally about its periphery, and said socket memberhaving slot means in spaced relation to said housing groove, andconnection means carried by said handle and passing through said socketmember slot means and through said housing groove whereby when saidhandle is manually operated said connection means will follow saidhousing groove and rotate the free end of said handle outwardly awayfrom said body.

2. In a door handle operating mechanism, stationary housing mounted in adoor, a rotatable socket member within said housing, a door handlepivotally connected to said socket member, a lock retracting mechanismmounted inwardly of said handle, a control shaft having one end thereofconnected to said socket member and the other end thereof engaging andadapted to operate said lock retracting mechanism, said housing having agroove directed spirally about its periphery, and said socket memberhaving slot means in spaced relation to said housing groove, andconnection means carried by said handle and passing through said socketmember slot means and through said housing groove whereby when saidhandle is manually operated said connection means will follow saidhousing groove and rotate the free end of said handle outwardly awayfrom said body, and spring means to return said handle after it ismanually operated to unlock the door.

CLARENCE F. KRAMER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number I Name Date 1,684,499 Mayer Sept. 18, 19282,141,659 Nehls Dec. 27, 1933 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date489,194 Great Britain July 21, 1938

